The Road to Dune (Hardcover)

~ Brian Herbert (Author), Kevin J. Anderson (Author), (Author), Stephen Youll (Illustrator) "FINDING SUCH A wealth of notes was just one step down the road, but the fresh material, ideas, clues, and explanations suddenly crystallized many things..." (more)
Key Phrases: House Linkam, Grand Emperor, Frank Herbert (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This companion volume to Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction classic collects manuscript material, correspondence and cut chapters related to Dune as well as previously published Dune-related short stories coauthored by his son Brian and Kevin J. Anderson. Particularly interesting are texts related to Dune's publication, including letters, reviews and press releases that acknowledge the dizzying scope of the ambitious novel. Its length meant that Herbert had a hard time placing it, and he ended up selling it to automotive-guide publisher Chilton, but its publication-and the awards it won-ushered in a new era for science fiction publishing. The sheer novelty of Dune stands in contrast to B. Herbert and Anderson's Spice Planet, an alternate Dune novelette constructed from Herbert's original notes and a by-the-numbers action-adventure of interest only in contrast to the book Herbert ultimately wrote. Three of B. Herbert and Anderson's short stories bridge some of the events in their coauthored novel prequels; the fourth takes place during one of the battles in Dune and provides an interesting point-of-view switch. Although this miscellany of material fails to cohere, the glimpse it provides into Herbert's thoughts and the difficulty of writing and publishing illuminate one of the most important SF novels ever published.
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From Booklist

This collection of essays, stories, and selections from Herbert's papers will certainly be high-priority reading for Dune fans. It includes two versions of Spice Planet, an unpublished novel containing many elements that later appeared in Dune, but that is a separate story. Of particular interest are the communications between Herbert, John Campbell, and others during and after the release of Dune and unpublished sequences from Dune and Dune Messiah. The collection also includes four short stories laid in the Butlerian Jihad era. Dune was a social and publishing phenomenon; it moved sf into general publishing (and marketing) awareness and spurred a wide public awareness of ecological balance. This account of its genesis should interest fans and students of popular culture. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (August 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765312956
• ISBN-13: 978-0765312952
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #365,515 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

92 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Road to Dune, August 22, 2005

A Kid's Review

My main excuse for buying Road to Dune was the roughly 150 pages of deleted scenes, from Dune and Dune Messiah. The cut chapters were interesting, but they were frequently incosistent with the canon material--the original Dune trilogy, and the prequels by Brian and Kevin. Examples:

-Road to Dune has it that the spice was found by men working for Dr. Kynes' father. But, in Dune: House Atreides, Pardot Kynes leaves for Arrakis AFTER spice has already been found and is being spread by merchants througout the galaxy.

-Road to Dune puts Paul's age at his departure to Arrakis at "almost twelve", even though in the first few sentences of the final publication of Dune is age is set as fifteen.

-IRULAN DIES....this is a very unclear chapter, complete with an odd final note by Frank Herbert.

There are other problems, too, which might be confusing, but that's why these scenes weren't published with the original novel. Still, this portion of the book is worth reading, and sheds a small amount of light on the Duneiverse as well (why Paul was inspired by the desert mouse, why the Guild controls the stars without competition). But, it isn't enough to justify spending 25 dollars.

The short stories, written by Brian and Kevin, are adventuresome and worth a look. The first story is set during Dune, but the three that follow are set in the Legends of Dune era. "Hunting Harkonenns" is set before The Butlerian Jihad; "Whipping Mek" is set before The Machine Crusade; and "Faces of a Martyr" is set before The Battle of Corrin.

But, there's a flaw here too. "Whisper of Caladan Seas" has appeared in two other places, and get this: YOU CAN READ THE LEGENDS OF DUNE SHORT STORIES FOR FREE ON DUNENOVELS.COM. No need to spend money on free material.

The novel "Spice Planet" is like a parody of Dune but serious. This was a design for the novel Dune that was abandoned, and features alternate names, and events both vaguely familiar and totally unlike the final publication. It's not all that great, and is certain to confuse the fans. Still, it is interesting.

There are also several letters and articles in here about Frank Herbert's journey to get Dune published. Ironic, that the Supreme Masterpiece (and bestselling novel) of Science Fiction was published by some company that did auto repair manuals.

All in all, the Road to Dune only has something to offer for those of you that have already explored the Dune Universe and still want more. It's not a bad installment, but there are so many actual novels out there...

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but ultimately not totally satisfying for Dune fans, October 8, 2006

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: The Road to Dune (Mass Market Paperback)

The six Dune series books of the late Frank Herbert are among my favorite science fiction. I can't say the same about the work from son Brian Herbert; his style is fast, rather like a screenplay and leaves out the richness of the father's famous intricate dialogs. However, this collection of notes, a reconstruction of Dune as a shorter novel focusing on the spice as a contention of production and some short stories by longtime Herbert colleague Ransom and Brian Herbert are interesting additions to Dune lore.

The sketch of Dune reconstructed as a short novel is interesting in that the spice is used as the focus of a simpler science fiction story; the Fremen appear only as freemen, not a cultural part of the tale, and the conflict is less galactic in scope. Paul is "Barri" and hardly the center of attention. The reconstruction, however, is not in the style of Frank but in Brian Herbert (more clipped) so it's not really a fair look at what-might-have-been.

The short stories Sea Child (set on Buzzell after the arrival of the Honored Matres), Whipping Mek are similarly short but good enough reading. The notes about Ransom's collaboration, some of the things that went into Dune before it was written and published are interesting for fans of sci-fi. While I didn't think this was a terrific book and while sometimes it did not hold my attention, I feel it's suitable for those who like Brian Herbert's work and it's certainly creditable science fiction in any case. Great? No. But interesting.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what it could have been, May 5, 2006

By	Peter Hunt (Mountain View, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Road to Dune contains some fascinating material, but it fell well below my expectations and hopes. Sadly, only about half the book contains primary source material written by Frank Herbert himself.

The book starts with a moving Foreward by Bill Ransom, who co-authored the excellent Pandora novels with Herbert. Anderson and Brian Herbert then introduce what follows, describing the boxes of draft material, letters, outlines and notes that they had to draw upon. My heart rate doubled and my spirit soared as I read this section, thrilled at the prospect of seeing how the Dune series evolved in Herbert's mind, and of gaining greater insight into his fascinating characters and events.

This promise was not to be fulfilled, however. The first section contains "Spice Planet", a novella written by Brian and Kevin based on Frank Herbert's original concept for Dune. As a ahort advemture story, it's quite enjoyable, and there are moments of real tension. However, any traces of Frank Herbert's original work are all but smothered by his chroniclers' writing style and ham-fisted characterization. Even an incomplete collection of outlines, notes and draft chapters would have been preferable to this disappointment.

The next section contains the true Dune source material: Frank Herbert's letters, and unpublished chapters from Dune and Dune Messiah. This section is fascinating as both a study of Herbert's alternative ideas for Dune, and as a historical account of how Dune came to be published. The unpublished chapters' inconsistencies with the published work only makes them more fascinating. This section is only 150 pages long, but it's the pearl in this oyster. If the whole book had consisted of this kind of content, I would have given it five stars.

The final section contains four short stories by Brian Herbert and Anderson - the first set during the events of Dune, the final three set during the authors' Butlerian Jihad trilogy. These stories have no place in a volume about the genesis of Dune, and are, in any case, available for free on the Internet. Why the authors included them is mystifying to me.

This book was so much less than it could have been. It's clear from their introduction that the authors had enormous amounts of source material to draw from. In different hands, we might have received a study of the evolution of the entire Dune story, much as Christopher Tolkien's "History of Middle-Earth" series was a study of his father's work. Instead, we get this.